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Why the Earliest Alaskans Didn’t Eat Fish for 1,000 Years
Haaretz ^ | June 3, 2023 | Ruth Schuster

Posted on 06/10/2023 9:52:36 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Fish soup. Salmon tartare with mango salsa. Sea bream a la plancha.

The human genus has been eating fish since the dawn of time. Almost 2 million years ago, hominins in Kenya deboned a catfish. Around 800,000 years ago, hominins in Israel grilled a giant carp. Evidence of shellfish consumption also abounds, and it’s even been proposed that coastal Neanderthals dived for clams.

It is therefore unsurprising that freshwater fish were critical resources for inland prehistoric peoples in North America, not to mention modern ones. It is surprising that archaeologists investigating their predecessors – the earliest people in Beringia (the land bridge between Asia and North America) around 15,000 to 14,000 years ago – found no evidence of fish consumption until 13,000 years ago.

For the first thousand years or so, first Beringians confined hunting to bison and elk and other large animals, the reports indicate.

Could the absence of fish be due to differential preservation: big animal bones preserved; frail fishbones not? Maybe it was an artifact of the study method? Did they really not eat fish for a thousand years or more – and if so, why did they then change habit? Maybe they just didn’t like fish?

Fish first appears in eastern Beringian human contexts 12,900 years ago, at a site called Mead, and 11,800 years ago at a site called Upward Sun River, they write.

(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: alaska; ancientnavigation; beringia; dietandcuisine; godsgravesglyphs; huntergatherers
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To: Right_Wing_Madman
I agree. A friend of mine was in Alaska. That's how they make their living.

On the other hand, Tarter Sauce wasn't available. Then there's the butter and lemon thing...

21 posted on 06/10/2023 11:05:30 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: Wuli

It’s called a weir...


22 posted on 06/10/2023 11:07:11 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: one guy in new jersey

IIRC, England made two mandatory fish days a week to support the fishing industry.


23 posted on 06/10/2023 11:09:02 AM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

High Mercury levels - no doubt!


24 posted on 06/10/2023 11:11:17 AM PDT by TNoldman (AN AMERICAN FOR A MUSLIM/BHO FREE AMERICA. (Owner of Stars and Bars Flags))
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To: All

Are they saying there were NO Catholics among them? What about Fish Fridays? I just can’t believe it.


25 posted on 06/10/2023 11:17:24 AM PDT by BipolarBob (I was going to start procrastinating this year, I just haven't got around to it.)
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To: SunkenCiv

First fish they ate was poisonous so they thought all the fish were poisonous.


26 posted on 06/10/2023 11:21:36 AM PDT by firebrand
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To: dangus
But most of those are ocean fish. We are talking inland fresh water. So except maybe for trout not a lot of fish with fat.

Also fresh water fish tend not to swim in schools so it would be more of a challange to catch them.

27 posted on 06/10/2023 11:34:46 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Follow the money. Even if it leads you to someplace horrible it will still lead you to the truth.)
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To: SunkenCiv
You can fish from the bank.

Not as sucessfully but it can be done.

And noodling needs no equipment to do.

28 posted on 06/10/2023 11:37:25 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Follow the money. Even if it leads you to someplace horrible it will still lead you to the truth.)
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To: Sacajaweau

Obviously no good Catholics in Alaska at the time.


29 posted on 06/10/2023 11:40:07 AM PDT by one guy in new jersey
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To: SunkenCiv

Their main problem was that there were no local offices where they could get a fishing license...


30 posted on 06/10/2023 11:40:34 AM PDT by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperately need him)
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To: SunkenCiv

Very easily explained - freshwater fishing isn’t very efficient, particularly if they lacked nets, sieves or fishing lines and hooks - and at low population levels land game would have been very abundant. Hunting beat fishing on a calorie per hour basis, to say nothing of the incremental yield of hide and bone. Once population levels led to nearby areas being hunted out, fishing would start to be worth the effort, including development and use of fishing technology.


31 posted on 06/10/2023 11:51:39 AM PDT by only1percent
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Salmon and eels travel inland from the ocean. No need for fish ladders then.

Scavengers and, if they had dogs, would have consumed and carried off any fish bits that were discarded. If they did fish during runs they probably cleaned them on the spot , maybe right into the water, and the remains would wash away.
What fish they took back to camp would be gutted and deboned so there wouldn’t be much evidance even if they were big fishermen.


32 posted on 06/10/2023 11:54:20 AM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge)
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To: SunkenCiv

Hi.

This sounds fishy.

5.56mm


33 posted on 06/10/2023 12:30:11 PM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho have got to go)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
Lack of fat?

More likely lack of spinning reals and spinner baits.....

34 posted on 06/10/2023 12:33:11 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
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To: Kartographer
They watch ‘Airplane’ one to many times

They had the lasagna.

35 posted on 06/10/2023 12:36:24 PM PDT by GreenHornet
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To: SunkenCiv

Because they got tired of going through this every time to get fish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaRRMbPwdwc


36 posted on 06/10/2023 1:07:29 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (I stayed drug - free going on 63 years for this?)
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To: SunkenCiv

No beer? There’s no sense going fishing if you don’t have any beer to drink.


37 posted on 06/10/2023 2:37:38 PM PDT by ken in texas
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To: GreenHornet
They had the lasagna Bevear.
38 posted on 06/10/2023 5:19:37 PM PDT by Kartographer (“We Mutually Pledge To Each Other Our Lives, Our Fortunes And Our Sacred Honor”)
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To: M Kehoe

Yeah, I’m sure it’ll never be taught in school.


39 posted on 06/10/2023 5:53:09 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: ken in texas

Good catch.


40 posted on 06/10/2023 5:56:44 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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